Happy New Year!

This year has been generally uneventful for the House House. Thankfully. Neither of us are major fans of upheaval! J We are both still at our respective jobs, still in our little house on State Street, and still parents to the Misses My and Sade. Right at the beginning of the year, our ancient oil furnace finally gave up the ghost. Right when it was nice and frigid in late January! We had to have a new gas line installed as there wasn’t one there before – what a muddy mess that was! The new gas furnace is wonderful… so quiet, does not reek of burnt heating oil, and actually keeps the house nice and toasty. The grass and ivy have nearly grown back and covered the two big holes that were dug in the yard. I was also super excited to trade in my old clunker POS washing machine for a “scratch and dent” high efficiency front loading one. It’s a beautiful thing. I spent a lot of time in the garden this summer – raised nine varieties of tomato, lots and lots of herbs and too many sunflowers. I installed a drip system in the garden this year and it made watering so much easier! I built a compost tumbler almost 100% of recycled materials. I will put it into full production next year when I figure out how to get regular water to it. We had a summer squash plant that grew to great heights and produced tons of baby squash, but they all withered on the vine before getting big enough to harvest. Rob even talked to it every day and tried to baby the fruit to maturity, but it was not to be. Old seeds, I think. You all noted that Rob’s Philadelphia Phillies won the 2008 World Series, right? Woo hoo! Our wish for this year is that we are all able to slow down. In light of current tumultuous economic and social times, maybe we can all hearken back to an older, quieter, more centered existence. Dare I say “old fashioned?” Personally, I have been working over the years to simplify how I live. Have I been successful? On some fronts. I recycle everything that I can, grow some of my own food, preserve what I can, reuse old things, sew up holes in seams, try to buy locally and organically, and cut down on the chemicals that I use around my home and yard. I am proud to say my garden is 100% organic and has been since its inception. Yes, these practices seem to make the house a little more cluttered, the bugs and weeds a little more plentiful, and my lifestyle a little more eclectic looking – but I honestly believe that I am doing all that I can to be a steward of the Earth and my community. I hope that we can all work together to undo some of the damage that has been done to our Earth and our society in the blind pursuit of wealth and the domination of Nature. If we could all consider the impact our actions have on each other and the world around us, maybe we can once again find the glue that has held us together over the past few generations…the ideals that kept our families and our children close, our hands busy and maybe a little calloused, our minds occupied and our hearts full of pride for what we have wrought. We hope that this letter finds you and yours happy and healthy – full of life and grand ideas. Take care of yourselves and the people and things you hold dear.

February Birthdays

It was Katie's birthday! All of the family got together at mom and dad's for a turkey dinner (well, lunch) because it is Katie's favorite. I was in charge of dessert. Katie requested a pumpkin spice trifle and it was delivered! See pic...

All the kids were very cute...Nick played catch with Grandpa, Maggie and Libby had matching ponytails, etc. etc. Grandma Wood was in attendance!

Here's the pics from the day.

Snowy, Cold, Super Tuesday

Super Tuesday folks! Yep, that's right! Time to get out there and attend your primary or caucus, exercize your right and duty to be a part of the political process, and most importantly, make your vote count and kiss Bush's ass goodbye! Anyway. Life for us has been good - it's been one of the harder winters on record here in Boise. Our 1957 oil furnace went on the fritz the first week in January...it only worked when it wanted to, spewed black smoke when it finally fired and made the whole house smell constantly of fuel. I hated it. It scared me when it fired because flames shot out of various mechanical orifices and it sounded like a freight train rumbling through the house when it decided to come on. It cost me tons of money in parts, labor and service; and in doing the research for a new furnace, I discovered that I had spent well over $2500 for fuel for basically two seasons - and we NEVER ran the furnace! Anyone who has spent time at our house in the winter knows we function in refrigerator temps because we can't afford the oil. (A rant for another time - EXXON is sitting on $25 billion and virtually no debt! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8646744/ I wonder how that happened? Maybe because I pay $3.18 per gallon for oil to heat my home and $3.00 a gallon to fuel my car. Man, something's gotta change.) So! A new 80% efficient two-stage gas furnace has been installed in my basement - replacing the scary, nasty, hulking beast of an oil furnace. Seriously, the footprint of the new furnace is less than half of what the old furnace was. The installation was of course, as unsmooth as possible...as it always is in my old house. They had to install the actual gas line from the main in the alley to the house (imagine backhoes and large men with beer bellies and visible cracks), pipe the gas into the house (a process that changed several times over the course of the day), disassemble and remove the old furnace and air cleaner (seeing the three inch layer of dust, dirt and dog hair in the ducts might lead one to deduce the air cleaner has not worked in at least the 10 years I have been there), install the new furnace, have the gas line pressure tested by the City, have Intermountain Gas come out and install the new meter, etc. etc...all with no less than six men running around my back yard and basement; banging, dragging, yelling, listening to J-105, digging large holes (three), tracking mud, water, and dog crap all over the once pristine snow covering my yard. It was stressful. But! Now, you can barely hear it when the heat comes on, it's clean, and to be frank, almost too warm for me! I have lived in a heat-restricted environment for so long, the continous heat is almost an assault to my senses. But, I'm dealing. :) Special thanks to Western Heating and Air Conditioning here in Boise for their awesome job and great customer service! I would highly recommend them for anything you may need in the HVAC arena. That's it! Be warm! (We are!)

Merry Christmas!

This was written near the end of November...the weather picture has changed significantly - today it is snowing and COLD!!! *** Ah, the sun is shining brightly and it is nearly 60 outside! What kind of weather is that for the beginning of November? My kind of weather, I can assure you. I have been really enjoying the balmy days, even when the overnight lows are in the low 30’s. All of my tomato plants have shriveled and turned black, the oak and the maple are completely devoid of leaves and in the grey twilight, they step right out of a Tim Burton movie. Little Miss Mylie has returned to her Winter habit of sleeping under her blankie, and Sadie prefers the warmth of our bed to any of the doggie beds we so plaintively offer her. The time of hibernation is upon us – time to hunker down, snuggle in, drink coffee thick with cream and sugar, and eat things made with pumpkins and sage. What have we been up to this year? Hmmm, let me see…oh yes! MARRIAGE! That has been our lives this year – preparations for our wedding that took place on September 1, 2007. I can’t really remember if anything else really happened over the past eleven months – unless it was lavender, smelled like lavender, was a wedding dress, wedding food, wedding cake, wedding pictures, or wedding music. But, the result was fantastic! Our day was wonderful – we so appreciated seeing everyone who was there to join us! I got to see old friends from Chicago and Washington. Rob had his best friends in from Kansas, New Jersey and Oregon. Our families were there in force, and I believe a good time was had by all. We appreciate everyone who was able to join us, those who helped us; and we certainly missed those who were not able to be with us as we committed to spend the rest of our lives together as husband and wife. There were a few things that did happen besides our wedding and all the trappings thereof…we had all the windows replaced on the house and new siding as well. We are already enjoying our new forms of insulation! The house is dark green with black trim and I love it. I tilled up about half the back yard and put in grass seed. It is almost all grass still! What an accomplishment! We only managed one camping trip this year. Sad. We spent a lot of time rooting for the Phillies, the poor, poor Falcons, and my beloved BSU Broncos. We hope that this letter finds you all well, fat and happy! J Honestly, we wish you the best during this holiday season, the coming year, and always. We are so thankful for our families, our friends and each other. Please take care of yourselves and hold those you love close to your hearts. Our best to you and yours! Rob and Amy House, and the furry kids.

Wedding Pictures

Just wanted to let you know you can view ALL (good and bad) at the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/trivoulta You can also print and order any prints you want from here. Thanks again to Robert Marsh Photography!

The House House AFTER

Here is our little house after the windows and siding. Everyone seemed to balk at my black and forest green color scheme - but I really liked it, and I think it turned out really well. The windows are all double hung and have some freakish R-value (for insulation). They all tilt in at the top and the bottom for cleaning (do you think that will actually cause me to clean them?) We are really excited to see what they do for us this winter as far as insulating. When they installed the siding, a layer of insulating board was installed over the existing siding, and then the new siding was placed over the board. That should really help this winter too, as we have had no insulation to speak of at all. The screen door that Terry made for me fits a lot better now and looks great as well. The garage door (be sure to see the "before" picture of that mess) looks so wonderful now! I tried to refinish the existing door, but it was so rotten that when I started scraping it, earwigs came out! OMG! Nas-tac-ular! I found the door at Second Chance Building Materials (they are in the Linen District - they give jobs to people recovering from substance abuse, and recycle old building materials and construction waste. Good deal all the way around - support them if you can!) and refinished it. It is SO beautiful! I love, love, love it. All the sills have been rebuilt and wrapped in metal. No more rotted sills! They look so nice! It was also very cool that we did not encounter any ants in the walls. I was thrilled about that. The contractor cut out the windows with a chop saw that was extremely loud and violent. If there were ants to be found, they certainly would have noticed that disturbance and come out in droves. Thankfully, I never saw one of the little S.O.B.'s. Anyway! This chapter of the house is closed. Thanks to Randy at Airetite Windows and Siding for such a great job! We highly recommend him!

The House House BEFORE...

This is what the house looked like before the new siding and windows. Note the peeling paint, the rotting window sills - and although you can't actually SEE them, the sorry excuse for single-paned glass windows! Look at that horrible garage door! It had earwigs LIVING in it!!!

We Did It!

A quick post to let everyone know that this past Saturday, September 1st, 2007, we became Mr. and Mrs. House!!!

It was a wonderful ceremony, and everything looked beautiful! We want to thank everyone who helped us out and made our day special. Watch for thank you cards over the next couple of weeks!

If you have called me lately, be patient! I am so tired of the phone from having it stuck to my head the last couple of weeks - I will be in touch as soon as I can. Feel free to email me, it is a little easier for me to respond that way.

Again, thanks to everyone. I will post more pictures as they become available.

All our Love,

Rob and Amy House!

Yay! I love this picture!

So glad I found it! And, I am pretty sure I am going to color my hair red again very soon. I miss red hair terribly!

Designer Pets?

Check this out. It is pretty foul. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18965940/ Email these jackasses and tell them that it is not okay to genetically engineer animals to be status symbols for the rich! pr@lifestylepets.com Stop breeding more unwanted animals! Adopt from and support your local humane society, and spay and neuter your existing animals!!!

Lots of work done this weekend!

Saturday, the weather was stunning. I got a little sunburned on my face and arms! This is what got done: 1. blankets all hung outside all day on newly installed clothesline 2. cleaned out all pots on patio from last year's plant debris 3. planted all patio pots with recovered seeds from last year (daisies and marigolds) and several different varieties of new annual seeds (including nicotania - supposed to have lime green flowers...can't wait!) 4. Put together the little outdoor side tables that mom got me (and all my other sisters) at Christmas. They were lime green, promptly painted black. 5. Planted carrot seeds in the garden 6. built an enclosure for my raspberries and other mystery berry I planted last year (very excited as there are about 11 new raspberries coming up this year!) 7. Cleaned patio table 8. Watched Rob mow the front yard (looks excellent!) 9. Trimmed my lilac trees (almost ready to bloom!) 10. Went to the grocery store 11. Bought a new tinkly windchime (was excellent on Sunday when it was a little rainy and somewhat windy) 12. We made the bed with the excellently fresh blankets that had been outside ALL DAY. The sun is the best fabric refresher there is! 13. Planted 72+ seeds in little peat starter pots. Tomatoes and basils all! Can't freaking wait!!! On Sunday, I cleaned the kitchen, made two huge loaves of banana bread, took down all the St. Patty's decorations, roasted a chicken, watched more of March Madness (stupid Kansas!), did some laundry, more dishes! I made a stovetop mac-n-cheese with turkey sausage and the cherry tomatoes that I roasted last year - they added a really great flavor...I am impressed with myself. I trimmed the dog's toenails. And, spent some quality time on the couch as well. That's about it. Wonderful weather. So thankful for the sun and the dirt. So excited for the arrival of my newest green babies.

Bunco! Or is it BUNKO?

On Saturday, I hosted a St. Patrick's Day Bunco party. All told, there were a total of 13 women in my house (including me!). It was a great time. I made corned beef sammiches (brown the brisket in a non-stick pan with some oil and brown sugar - about 10 minutes on each side or until a little brown and carmelized. Put it in the crockpot, pour a can of Guiness on it, cover and cook on low for eight hours. Stellar.) and Irish coffee (one ounce {a shot} of Bushmills Irish whiskey, one heaping teaspoon of brown sugar - stir 'er up. Fill the mug with hot, fresh, strong coffee. Add a dollop of homemade whipping cream.). People brought lotsa good food and since the weather was so nice, we got to hang out on the patio on "breaks."

I had a bunch of silly St. Patty's Day decor - green candles, green glass "stones" everywhere, a rather scary looking leprechaun on the front door, shamrocks all over, green tablewhere, etc. etc. Everyone got a little baggie with goodies in it - my favorite was a light up shamrock necklace. Go Oriental Trading Company (seriously, check it out for all your cheap party needs - www.orientaltrading.com ).

Fun times had all around! Host your own bunco party! They are fun, easy, and a blast!

Out in the Garden

I worked out in my garden last night. That was FUN! My sister helped me rake up all the leaves that I was using as mulch. I tore out the old tomato plants that had been there all winter. Looks much better in there now. I have new growth on all my herbs – three thymes (the orange thyme is so cool! It is a ground cover, has really low feathery tiny leaves – and they do smell citrusy! It is about 16” in diameter this year.), the green sage (we dug from Grandpa Sterling’s house), the purple sage, tarragon, bergamot, winter savory, the English lavender, St. John’s wort, lemon balm, the chive and the garlic chive already have harvestable shoots, and the parsley I planted last year is already back with a vengeance! I did not even know the dumb thing was a perennial. But, it is! Sweet. My rosemary did not die again this year…does not have new growth on it yet, neither does my Echinacea. I have a hollyhock we got from the plant sale at the church across the alley last year that has about quadrupled in size…it should bloom this year. I am excited to see what color it is. I can’t believe what a tiny sickly plant it was when I put it in and how big it is today! The raspberry that Rob got me has new buds on it – I need to trellis it this year. It is a third year plant, so it should produce this year!!! Yay! We got some other berry (two plants survived) from the neighbor last year…again, terribly sickly baby plants that have grown up. Not great, mind you, but grown up nonetheless. I ordered all my seeds yesterday – I decided to start my seeds indoor this year. We shall see how it goes! This is what I got… Tomato Better Boy Hybrid Tomato Early Girl Hybrid Tomato Sweet Baby Girl Tomato Tomande Zucchini Burpee Hybrid Winter Squash Early Acorn Squash - Autumn Glow Sunflower Chianti Hybrid Sunflower Honey Bear (pictured above, so cute!) Basil, Genovese Basil, Green Ruffles - Basil, Thai 'Siam Queen Basil - Sweet Nufar Hybrid Basil Summerlong Nicotiana Nicki Mix Portulaca Magic Carpet Zinnia Pinwheel Series

Oh man. Basil. Basil. Basil! BASIL! Can't wait. I've done my research and I think that I have the harvesting thing figured out. Stay tuned for pesto. Lots and lots of pesto!

I also made a border out of old beer bottles. I will try and post a picture of that soon. If it remains stable, I think it will be a great way to recycle the beer bottles. The dark brown glass should absorb the warm sunlight, so that should be helpful as well!

Wonder what I'm thinking about?

I can't wait until I can plant my garden! This is a photo of it from last year. I can't wait for the tomatoes and the basil. I plan on planting at least 10 basil plants. I hope that I can be more proactive on the harvesting...I will be able to keep the plants going for much longer. Pesto for all! Freakishly good stuff seriously.

We Got Engaged!

I am sure that everyone knows, but Rob and I got engaged at the end of November. It was a perfect proposal - I totally stole Rob's thunder (as usual) - but it totally worked. It was crazy, the dogs were freaking out and running around, and Rob was as sweet as he could have been. He was going to be sneaky and ask me at the airport, but I told him on the way home from work I was just going to drop him off. *Thunder stolen* He totally had to come up with plan B in about 10 minutes. He asked me to marry him and then left for New York for a week. It was the loneliest five days I think I have ever experienced.

He is still the wonderful man I met, four years ago March 22! I can't believe it. We are so excited! Keep watching for exciting wedding details!!!